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A Columbus teacher who wrote the word
loser on a student's arm faces a disciplinary hearing Friday.

Amy M. Butterfield, a third-grade teacher at Linden STEM Elementary, has been on paid leave
since April 1. The incident occurred on March 31.

Butterfield had a good relationship with the second-grade boy and regularly joked with him, said
her attorney, Robert Washburn.

On the day of the incident, Washburn said, the teacher and child had been bantering when the
student said he wanted to write
loser on Butterfield. Instead, Butterfield jokingly did the same to the boy on a small
area of his arm in orange washable marker.

"It was an error in judgment. It was not ill-intended. ... I certainly understand how a parent
would feel when viewing that," Washburn said. "And Amy will be the first one to say this shouldn't
have happened."

The teacher didn't answer questions herself but referred them to her attorney.

Records show that Butterfield, who is 28, was hired by Columbus in August and had taught
previously in another state.

District spokeswoman Kim Norris would not give more information about the student, including
whether Butterfield was his teacher, citing privacy issues. She also would not say how the district
plans to discipline Butterfield.

Teachers "are entitled to due process," Norris said.

The case is similar to an incident at a North Carolina school that drew national attention this
spring. In that case, a middle-school teacher was suspended without pay for two weeks for writing
loser on a student's school work.

That teacher also was ordered to complete training in professional and ethical classroom
behavior.

Love Our Children USA, which conducts a large-scale anti-bullying campaign called STOMP Out
Bullying, viewed that incident as a clear case of teacher-on-student bullying and has heard an
increasing number of reports of such bullying.

"If it was me, the teacher would have been fired" in the North Carolina case, said Ross Ellis,
founder of the organization based in New York. "Common sense should tell a teacher that this is not
appropriate to do. Even as a joke. Kids take this stuff very seriously."

Ellis said incidents such as the Columbus one, even when considered to be friendly teasing, send
the wrong message to impressionable children.

"A teacher saying it to a student is saying, 'Here, you can be a bully, too,'" Ellis said. "Role
models don't write
loser - certainly not on someone's arm. To me, it's not a joke. It's stupidity. Adults are
supposed to know better."

Washburn said that Butterfield readily agrees that the incident was an "error in judgment." He
said that Butterfield is a talented and dynamic educator who made an unfortunate mistake.

"She is a very engaging young woman and has a lot to offer as a young educator," Washburn said.
"I don't think this incident really represents Amy Butterfield."